Home Design

Express Your Personal Style with Home Decor

Your home is you. It reflects your personality and the image you wish to present to the world. "Decorating is both a reflection of society as a whole and an individual's personality," confirms New York interior designer Michael Simon of Michael Simon Interiors, Inc. 

Your home also evokes a reaction from all who cross its threshold. "Formal furnishings equate to more formal, polite behavior," Simon points out. "When you walk through a museum or enter a religious institution you react by talking in a hushed voice. Entering a room with fine paintings, furniture and accessories usually solicits a respectful manner. 

"The richer the textiles, the more formal the space. An antique gilded chair upholstered in sumptuous brocade realizes a different reaction than a club chair upholstered in textured cotton," says Simon. For example, a cameo banked by wild rose swags in Cameo Rose from the new Waverly French Accent fabric collection and Allier Stripe, a multicolor ribbon floral, achieves an almost stately impact as compared to the charming, casual effect of Fleur Jolie, a diminutive classic country French motif on cotton.

"Furniture placement has less to do with manners and more to do with traffic patterns and visual balance," Simon continues. "The size of the room and high ceilings also affect behavior and how people react. There are 'parade' or public rooms and then there are the 'family' rooms where comfort comes first. But every space should be comfortable."

"People respond differently based on their environment, which is the foundation of behavioral science," says interior designer Myra Schwartz of Myra R. Schwartz Associates, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. "That's why it's important for people's homes to reflect their personalities. Furthermore, color and light evoke the atmosphere you wish to create."
"To design a formal room, use a pretty, deep red, in combination with other colors. Team that red with black and white and it takes on an edge, inspiring a different reaction." For a traditional look, match the Waverly fabric, Kerry, in red -- a scroll with ivy pattern -- from the American Rose Garden collection, with Ambridge Rose's blossoms.

The red makes a different impression when shown exclusively with a black and white toile, Swan Lake.

"Feeling casual around bold, funky colors, people may exhibit a devil-may-care attitude, while around black and white, they might be chilled and tense. A warm, inviting interior with soft colors is relaxing. Good design plays on the emotions -- and takes into consideration how people live," Schwartz says.

For more information, visit www.waverly.com or call (800) 423-5881 for a store near you.

Click on photo for larger view.

THIS LIVING ROOM
Dressed in a combination of patterns that are mixed to perfection by Waverly for the American Rose Garden collection, includes a settee and chair cushions in Rosabelle and draperies in Ambridge Rose, banded by Astor Rose. Joining these are numerous coordinating decorative pillows, a table round and square.

Local Resources

Visit our local resource center for links to Home & Garden services in your area.

To advertise your business here, contact the SentinelSource Design Team by email or phone 603-352-1234, ext. 290